Improvement in hydrocarbon-gas apparatus



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L. MARINE & E. MERTZ.

Hydrocarbon Gas Apparatus.

No. 135,568. Patented Feb.4,1873.

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L. MARINE 81. E. M-ERTZ. i

flydroc arhon Gas Apparatus.

No.135,568. Pat ntedFeb."4,1873.

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AM. PHD TO'LITHOGHAPHIC an N x (oasamvels ma csss) LOUIS MARING AND EMILE MERTZ, OF BASLI], SWITZERLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN HYDROCARBON-GAS APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 135,568, dated February 4, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LOUIS llIARING, of Basle, in Switzerland, and EMILE MERIZ, of the same place, have invented certain Improvements in Apparatus for the Manufacture ot'Illuminating-Gas; and we do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawing which accompanies and forms part of this specification, is a description tf our invention sufticient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

The object of our invention is to furnish a cheap, simple, and efiicient apparatus for the manufacture of gas for illuminating purposes, from all kinds of residuum ofv petroleum, oil, and grease, whether of mineral, animal, or vegetable origin.

The apparatus which we have devised for this purpose we will now proceed to describe.

For the development of our new gas we use all kinds ot'residue ot'oil and grease." It is little important whether the same be of mineral, vegetable, or animal origin. \Ve use them equally successfully isolated (pure) or mixed.

A is a vertical retort, freely suspended by its edge on flange b in the brick-work B. This re tort is our generator, which we bring to a red heat by combustibles thrown in the grate d of furnace c. The heat has notonly access to the bottom of the retort, but also to the side by means of the canal or channels V V, worked in the wall of IS, these channels communicating with each other and with the furnace c. In this manner the loss of heat is reduced to its minimum, and its power and ett'ect upon the retort greatly intensified. The bottom of this retort is provided with one or more series of sharp edges, 6 c e, projecting upward there from, the use of which will be explained in another place. The residue ot' petroleum, oil, or grease, or any mixture ot'the same, is putinto the open reservoir 0, and enters the retort by the way of the inlet-tubesff, and falls from the same at the lower or exit end h, upon a plate, {1, which is provided with a great number of small holes Oil, grease, 850., passing through the: e holesi [Loomein cont lot with the red-hotbottom ot' the retort. An instantaneous decomposition takes place, facilitated by the extended heating-surface uttered by the several edges 0 e e ot'the bottom. The gas is produced, and accumulates in the lower half of the retort-that is, below that part in which are formed the valve-seats. Its immediate disengagement is always checked by the dropvalves k k, which only lit't themselves up to let the developed gas escape when its pressure exceeds that of the water l l in the basin D, into which the gas passes by the way of tube or pipe m.

As the drawing shows, the valves k k are connected by the rods or stems s s with the perforated bottom 9, and form with the same a connected frame or system. These valves, therefore, in ascending, lift with them the plate g, on which, always, a certain amount of oily substance rests. When the escape of gas has thus taken place through the valve-openings, the whole valve-frame falls back, not to rise again and deliver a new quantity of gas until the compression in the retort by reason of'the amount of gas therein generated be again sufticient. Every time the plate and valves fall back, the resulting shock or jarrin g of the same caused by such fall forces a. new quantity of matter to pass through the holes 6 i z, to go to the bottom of the retort.

It is to be observed that the retort A, because of its being freely suspended by its flange or rim 1) b, can be easily removed from the furnace after having taken 01f the cover 92, and unscrewed the inlet-tubes f at q and 7', without having further need of taking the ap paratus to pieces to replace or change the retort.

In the basin D are circular plates 15 t t, the attachment of which to the tube m and to the basin is such as to prevent the gas from flow ing too easily into the purifier E at its escape from the pipe m, and compelling it to pass in a zigzag course from plate to plate as it ascends through the water. Thus retained a little longer in the water, the gas gets cleaned ah eady from a great part of heterogeneous matter. Passing from the basin through the pipe 11 into the purifier E, the final process of cleaning takes plate before it passes through the conductor 0, leadinginto the gas-reservoir.

The adn'lission of oil, 850., from the reservoir 0, is regulated by means of the cock 1).

The advantages obtained by this new manner of gas manufacture are very marked, viz.: livery kind of residue of oil and. grease can be used, and even remains of any kind in fact tories, considered useless for greasing-or lighting purposes. The decomposition and transformation of oil and grease into gas in our apparatus is complete, and obtained without the least danger of explosion; for, admitting even the impossible, that the valves 70 k, for some reason or other, should fail to perform their functions, then the developed gas would force the liquid into the inlet or admission tube f, and escape through the open reservoir 0. As is evident, the liquid serves at the same time as a safety-valve. Another guarantee for its safety lies in the small amount of fire necessary to put the apparatus into successful operation, which is no greater than in any heating apparatus for a chamber.

This apparatus is very easily transported, and can likewise be recommended for its small dimensions, which permit it to be placed ----anywhere, even under circumstances when the hun g within the retort and operating substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In combination with the perforated plate 9, the edges 0 e projecting upward from the bottom of the retort, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In combination with the retort and its valves 70 k, the inlet-pipe opening into the retort below the valves, and connecting with the open reservoir 0, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The combination of the retort suspended by its rim 1), with the box in which it is suspended, and the removable cover a, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination ofthe open reservoir and its inlet-pipe, furnace, retort, and valve-frame, outlet-pipe, and water-basin, substantially as and for the purpose described.

1 LOUIS MARIN G.

EMILE MERTZ.

\Vitnesses:

H. SALAT'IIE, ARNOLD HOPPELE R. 

